Environmental regulations are increasingly strict, especially those regarding liquid fuel quality. As a result, fuel sulfur compound content needs to be decreased, close to zero by 2010. This goal must be achieved taking into account operational and economical aspects; otherwise, conventional liquid fuel commercialization will be restricted.
Conventional desulphurization processes (based on pure catalyst) are expensive. Due to this fact and severe operation conditions, some emergent technologies are under development. These new technologies are mainly focused on decreasing capital and operational costs; as a result, the electrochemically assisted hydro-desulphurization processes, via hydrogen permeation, could be an attractive and potential option for desulphurization of hydrocarbon feeds under mild conditions.
Improving these processes in terms of efficiency and effectiveness remains a key concern, and providing such improvements is a primary object of the invention.
Other objects and advantages will appear below.